The third place finish came despite losing 88-10 to England at Twickenham in the penultimate round, a game that saw the visitors ship 14 tries.

That loss to the eventual Grand Slam championships could have dented confidence ahead of the crucial hosting of Scotland, but Hogan said it instead provided motivation.

"It just made us more hungry," she said.

"We had a feedback session on Monday where we were all very honest with each other and then we wiped it clean.

"We knew the challenge we had. We knew it was going to be a tight game. We just had to front up.

"We couldn't worry about it. Whenever it was done, it was done."

Ireland will gain greater exposure to opposition of that quality later this year, with their Six Nations showing also ensuring promotion to the top tier of the WXV competition.

Last year, Ireland won WXV3 thanks to victories over Kazakhstan, Colombia and Spain.

"We wanted to qualify for the World Cup but we want to contend at that World Cup," added Hogan.

"It'll definitely give us good games where we can improve ourselves and see where we sit, what we have to work on for the Six Nations after that, and then the World Cup.

"It will definitely stand to us to be in that WXV1. It's well earned."